Pressurized aerosol products typically comprise a container, usually a cylindrical metal can, containing both a propellant gas or compressed air along with the desired product to be dispensed and a valve assembly and actuator for controllably dispensing of the product as an aerosol. One end of the container is closed by a metal dome which is crimped and sealed to the upper side wall of the container and has a central opening for receiving a metal mounting cup which is crimped and sealed to the dome. The mounting cup, in turn, has a central pedestal with a central opening for mounting a conventional valve assembly thereto. A first end of a dip tube is connected with a lower portion of the valve assembly. The valve assembly provides a controllable flow passage from an inlet, formed in a second free end of the dip tube which extends downward and communicates with the product to be dispensed, typically located in the bottom portion of the aerosol container, to an outlet formed at a remote end of a valve stem which extends through the central opening in the pedestal and supports an actuator. The actuator, in turn, generally has a flow passage, extending from the outlet of the valve stem, through the body of the actuator and to a discharge outlet formed in the actuator. The discharge outlet typically accommodates a discharge member, normally in the form of an insert, which is sized and shaped to engage with the discharge outlet and provide the desired discharge spray pattern for the product when dispensed. The actuator, when depressed, moves vertically downward, with respect to the valve assembly and the pedestal, and actuates the valve assembly to open the valve so that the product to be dispensed can then flow through and along the controllable flow passage of the valve assembly and the actuator and eventually be dispensed through the discharge outlet of the actuator.
When the actuator is released, the valve assembly is biased, by a spring, back into its normally closed position to prevent further dispensing of product though the valve assembly. Such biasing action of the spring also, in turn, returns the actuator back to its normally extended position, with respect to the pedestal, so that the actuator is then repositioned to be again depressed, by an operator, and thereby facilitate further dispensing of product from the container.
Known actuators and inserts are typically formed from molded plastics and the like. One problem which frequently occurs with such known actuators and inserts is that it is often very difficult to manufacture inserts with small diameter orifices—in a consistent, reliable, and uniform manner—through which the product can be dispensed in a desired spray pattern.